


haunted

by 0fficiallyLeah



Series: changes [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Case Fic, Gen, Hunters & Hunting, M/M, Mark of Cain, Pre-Slash, Story Arc, small hints to overall plot, story building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-08 19:04:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10394031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0fficiallyLeah/pseuds/0fficiallyLeah
Summary: "I got you boys a case." Beth announced."Just us?" Dean asked while making her a plate."Don't think I'd be much help in this one. Lady in white. And the way you've been making heart eyes at your angel, you are a prime target." She smirked.





	

Dean found a note on the kitchen table when he got up for breakfast. Apparently, Castiel was needed for a rogue angel problem and would call to check in by tonight. Dean found himself smiling like a sap as he set about making french toast. It was a nice change of pace to not have Castiel disappearing with no idea where he went or when he'd decided to show up again. Dean was a worrier, it was part of the reason he drank so much. But now, having Sam pretty much content and having Castiel home, the weight on his shoulders felt lighter than it had in a long time - even with the mark.

He used almost half a loaf of bread by the time Sam came back from his morning run. He had to slap his hand away from the toast.

"Hey, Nasty, how 'bout you go take a shower before you contaminate the food? And wake Beth up on your way back."

Dean thought it was good for them to have another person living in the bunker again. Sam and he seemed to get lost inside their heads and the bunker would go days in silence. Beth had the ability to take the cold hard feeling that he associated with the men of letters and make it feel warm and inviting instead. She got him to help connect her record player to the speaker system running throughout the rooms they typically gathered in and now research wasn't so tedious. And if Dean didn't really get to listen to good quality music, choosing instead to allow Sam and Beth to bond over their shared 'taste', he really didn't mind suffering with only mild complaining.

"I got you boys a case." Beth announced.

"Just us?" Dean asked while making her a plate.

"Don't think I'd be much help in this one. Lady in white. And the way you've been making heart eyes at your angel, you are a prime target." She smirked.

"I'm sorry, what was that? You're not hungry?" He grew up playing keep away from a nosy brother, but she was less than a foot shorter than him, unlike Sam used to be.

"Stop picking on her." Sam said as he snagged the orange juice from the fridge.

"Yea, Yea. You would pick her."

Sam shrugged, "She's prettier than you."

Beth snorted but decided to drop it. Instead she passed the folder full of information on the case in exchange for her breakfast.

"You did this?" Dean asked, surprised with how much she had gathered - including victims and possible women. The town had an alarming amount of women who fit the profile. Some killed their kids and then themselves, but some of the others she had uncovered had killed themselves while they were pregnant. He hadn't even thought about that being a possibility. Though it was possible something else had caused them to murder/suicide other than a cheating spouse.

"I couldn't sleep, so I was surfing the web. Twelve suicides/killing their children in the last five years. And one man missing every five months for the last three years. All from out of town. Same stretch of road. Locals are thinking possible serial killer. They aren't connecting the two. I only put the info for the women who fit the timeline, but I can print off the others if you want to look into it while you're there. If I had to bet, I'd say whatever is going on is definitely not something natural."

"Do we know how long it usually takes for a spirit to create enough energy to become a lady in white?" Sam asked.

"No clue dude, but this is too much of a coincidence to ignore. Let's pack up after we eat and ship out. You good to be by yourself for a while? Don't know when Cas'll be back."

"Don't worry. I won't throw any parties while you’re gone." Beth rolled her eyes.

 

††††

 

The small town didn't offer much in way of activities or really any reason for traffic at all. Dean was surprise to find out that all the men who had gone missing were coming to visit a comic book store that specialized in rare dealings. He never expected a geek to be the straying kind. He had to turn a laugh into a cough when Sam freaked out about a special edition graphic novel the store carried. And he was more than a little disturbed when he discovered a graphic novel version of the Supernatural books - sometimes he really hated the internet. 

He found the sales clerk and owner, like he could actually afford to hire anyone else, was a little too helpful. He had a folder that he had created of surveillance camera shots of all the missing men when they had been in his store and didn't even act surprised that the FBI were investigating. It was suspicious.

It turned even more so when one of the pregnant women who committed suicide turned out to be his girlfriend. However, Dean didn't want to throw up any red flags so he decided not go back and question him again, but instead had Sam dig more into his past. Meanwhile, Dean acted as bait to see if the woman in white was real.

 

††††

 

Unfortunately, it seemed Beth was right. He was a prime target.

When he saw her on the side of the road trying to hail a ride he called Sam to let him know which body he needed to salt and burn. He had assumed that if he just continued to drive she wouldn't bother him. He assumed wrong.

The next thing he knew he was blinded by a girl in his lap and he was slamming on his breaks and swerving off the side of the road. She would have killed him too, if he had given her the chance. Instead he pulled a page from his brother’s book and shot her. She didn't stay gone long. As soon as he got out of the car she reappeared and slammed him against it.

"Look. You're cute, really. And I may have been a fan of a girl taking charge once upon a time. But you're just not really might type. I'm more into tall, brunette, blue eyes, hopelessly dorky. And you know, alive. Not trying to kill me is a plus too. So don't take this the wrong way, but shove off, okay?" He shot her again. He just needed to stall long enough for Sam to dig.  

Every time she appeared he pumped her full of salt. He tried to remember her story. He recognized her. She was Emilee Brown. She had been one of the earlier ones. She had drowned her two-year-old son with a water hose before hanging herself with it. She had found out the man she had been with for twenty years, the man who beat her and that she never left, had a whole other family in a neighboring town. Another happy wife and daughter without bruises. She had every right to be a vengeful spirit, but that didn't mean that Dean didn't have to stop her. 

"You've never been faithful to anyone." He shot her.

"You think you sacrifice so much for other people's happiness, but you're selfish to your core." Sam was taking too long.

"All I had was my family, and it turns out I didn't even have that." His gun jammed. "He was going to take my son, my whole world, away from me. I was to heart broken and stupid to think straight. I killed my child so that bastard couldn't have him, when what I should've done was killed the bastard. He was like you. Selfish." Dean couldn't get to another gun. She knocked him over and pinned him. Her hands burning against his skin. He felt the mark on his arm flare to life.

The spirit reared back in surprise. Dean was too focused on keeping the mark in check. He could feel the eerie calmness start to overcome his panic and the sound of his heart in his ear became more and more distant like he was underwater. He was trying desperately not to drown. His eyes snapped up when he felt the weight on him begin to lighten and watched as she began to burn away. The mark wasn't easily quelled.

 

††††

 

Dean's not sure how long it took, but eventually he made it back to the motel. He gave a look to stop Sam's babbling concern.  It seemed to work, if only because his concern over Dean shifted to his something on his laptop.

"We may have a bigger problem than just the Lady in White. I've been talking with the sheriff and I think there's a serial killer involved as well. They were going on the assumption that it was the men who were the targets and that the women were all suicides. But I looked more into it and there have been demonic signs all over this area. Somethings not right."

"Does creepy comic book guy tie into all of it?"

"I don't think so Dean. I mean I looked into his past like you said, but besides his girlfriend who died he didn't really have a connection with any of the women. Why are you set on this guy?"

"I couldn't figure out what was so off about him, but if he's got a demon hiding out inside him it would make sense if this," he raised his arm, "would be able to detect it."

"Wait. So you think that a demon is hiding in that guy and then what? Transferring into these women and making them kill themselves? What would be the point?"

"Why don't we ask him?" Dean said as he watched through the window as the suspect approached their door. Dean didn't wait for him to knock. "Well hey there. We were just going to come and see you." His voice overly cheerful. "We just wanted to tell you thanks. We managed to solve the cases."

"Really?" He came in uninvited and shut the door. "Both of them? Are you sure you have all the information?" He openly grinned in a challenge.

"I didn't say that. Why don't you tell us why Crowley is letting you murder so many people? It's not like him to let you draw so much attention."

"I don't answer to him. See Lilith and I did not see eye to eye. I wasn't top side yet with the rise of Lucifer and all that, but when Crowley asserted himself in charge, I swore I wouldn't follow anyone who had been Lilith's right hand man. Plus I always thought crossroads demons were the whores of hell."

"So you're killing without purpose?" Sam asked.

"My purpose was to draw you out. Both of you. I didn't think our story was over." That caused Dean to take a step back. It was one thing to know that they were actually speaking with a demon, but there wasn't one that they had worked with that had gone against Crowley, other than Meg. 

She was dead, they'd all seen it. Any demon they had 'a story' with, other than Crowley, was dead. Ruby. Lilith. Abaddon. Alastair. Azazel. "I can see you're confusion. You always were a bit slow on the uptake. It's a good thing you're cute." He winked at Dean and he felt like he needed to bathe. "It should've taken centuries for me to get here. I spent one day on the torture wrack and they offered me a chance to get off and I took it. Gladly. According to Alastair, my soul had been dark to begin with and I was a quick learner. I always knew how to survive, so I didn't hold back. Think on that. We'll meet again." He opened his mouth and the black smoke escaped.

 

††††

 

The ride back was quiet. They had dropped the man off at his shop, still unconscious, and set out. Dean had called Crowley to let him know he had a problem. Abaddon had thrown a wrench in his ability to keep the lower demons in check, but they both thought he had gotten it back under control. Apparently not. Now that the case was more or less solved, Sam was back to throwing concerned looks at him. It made him want to scratch at his arm.

"Hopefully Beth and Cas weren't too bored tonight without us." He tried to distract Sam.

"Oh, did he check in like he said?" Sam smirked. 

"Bitch. Yes, he did. After the spirit was taken care of, I was, uh, waiting around to make sure she was really gone, and he called. We only talked for a few minutes and then I headed back. He said to tell you hello." 

Sam seemed to consider him for moment before deciding to drop the subject. "Beth did a really great job on that file. I was thinking about having her keeping an eye out for more demonic signs if whoever that was decides they want to get our attention again."

"I think that'd be smart. I think Ash taught her some research stuff, so she might be even better at it than you."

"You knew she knew Ash?" Sam frowned.

"Uh, yea. She mentioned it to me. Didn't I tell you?" He had no intention of letting Sam know that Beth had died trying to stop Lucifer. "She had said we had met up there at one point, before the apocalypse." 

"She say anything else?"

"Not really. I don't think she really wanted to talk about it. She say anything to you?"

"No." Sam dropped the subject again. Dean could tell it wasn't the complete truth, but he didn't push it. If Beth and Sam were getting close enough to share a few secret between them, he wasn't going to do anything to stop it.

 


End file.
